A controversy involving an undocumented immigrant whose infant son was adopted while she was in jail facing deportation is casting a sharp light on immigration policy and adoption law. Would returning the boy, now 4, to his Guatemalan mother make him a victim of her deportation, or vindicate her maternal and due-process rights? [In the Constitution]

In the aftermath of last week’s tumultuous midterm elections, more Americans say they want congressional Republicans to set the nation’s agenda than say they want President Obama to do so, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup poll. In that desire for congressional leadership, Americans hearken back to the time of the founding, when the framers of the Constitution assumed that Congress, not the Executive, would be the principal arm of government. [In the Constitution]

A federal judge this week issued a temporary restraining blocking a new amendment to Oklahoma’s constitution that prohibits state judges from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases. Is the amendment an attack on Muslims, or a legitimate restraint on the judiciary? [In the Constitution]

The election of a Democratic governor who backs gay rights has opened the way for Hawaii to become the sixth state in the nation to grant the rights of marriage to same-sex couples without authorizing marriage itself. Governor-elect Neil Abercrombie has said he will sign a civil-union law if it is passed by the Democratic controlled legislature. [In the Constitution]

Newly empowered congressional Republicans are vowing to repeal President Obama’s landmark health care reform law, but there is little chance a full repeal bill could pass the Senate, much less overcome the president’s veto pen. Meanwhile, suits are advancing in federal courts challenging the new law’s constitutionality as an improper use of congressional power to regulate commerce. [In the Constitution]